E-cigarettes in India

Global business and regulatory news and updates from the vape industry

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9th December 2024: India: Two members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, the ruling party), Shalini Yadav and Shehzad Poonawala, have called for stricter enforcement of anti-tobacco laws, specifically targeting the use of e-cigarettes, vapes, and heated tobacco products among Indian youth. Yadav, a BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh, highlighted issues surrounding the rising prevalence of these products, praising civil society initiatives like Mothers Against Vaping. Similarly, BJP national spokesperson Poonawala highlighted the need for urgent measures to stop the spread of such products. These statements reflect a strong stance by the incumbent party against novel nicotine devices and underline the ruling party's commitment to enforcing the 2019 vaping ban to safeguard public health.
28th October 2024: India: A survey from Doctors Against Addiction (DAAD), conducted in partnership with Saizen Global Insights & Consulting, indicates an enhanced tolerance towards harm-reduction products. Survey results highlight the need for updated smoking cessation policies that integrate safer alternatives, reflecting advancements in cessation science and technology. In addition, the survey emphasises the importance of collaboration among healthcare providers, policy-makers, and the private sector for effective patient support.
15th October 2024: India: Several public health initiatives have been launched across the country, emphasising the connection between tobacco and cancer. Mizoram’s health minister, Pi Lalrinpuii, has launched the Tobacco-Free Youth Campaign 2.0 in the state. The campaign aims to create tobacco-free educational institutions and villages, raise public awareness, and implement the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) and the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA), demonstrating a restrictive regulatory approach towards novel tobacco products. In addition, the Goa Cancer Society (GCS), in collaboration with the state’s Manipal Hospital, offers subsidised screenings and counselling to cancer patients, highlighting tobacco as a key cancer risk factor.
1st October 2024: India: Researchers have found that vaping brands are using e-commerce platforms and influencers to market e-cigarettes to Indian youth on social media, despite the 2019 ban on these products. The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) identified 83 stores and 189 influencers involved in this promotion, contributing to two-thirds of its study participants being aware of e-cigarettes via social media.
25th September 2024: India: Mothers Against Vaping, a public health advocacy group, has urged for a ban on “new age” nicotine devices like e-cigarettes in the country. The group also commended the launch of the Tobacco Free Youth Campaign 2.0, which aims to raise public awareness about the dangers of tobacco, particularly targeting youth and rural communities. The campaign will focus on enhancing compliance with updated Tobacco-Free Educational Institution guidelines and reinforcing tobacco control laws, including the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003 and the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA) 2019, to reduce youth access to tobacco products.
29th July 2024: India: The National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC), part of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has published data on vape-related violations that have occurred since 2022, press reports. The data outlines a total of 350 violations, with 44 occurring so far in this financial year, 263 in the 2023 financial year and 48 in financial year 2022. Financial years in India start on 1st April and end on 31st March.
8th January 2024: Pakistan: The health organisations Blue Veins and Provincial Alliance for Sustainable Tobacco Control have asked Haji Ghulam Ali, the governor of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to take measures to reduce e-cigarette consumption and prevent their sales to under-age consumers, press reports. The organisations have asked him to ban the sale of e-cigarettes and vapes to those under 21. If the governor acts on these requests, other regions could follow his lead.
3rd October 2023: India: The Ministry of Health has said in a clarification that the possession of e-cigarettes is in violation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA) 2019, adding that the enforcement of the ban will be strengthened, press reports. Although there is no explicit provision prohibiting the individual use of e-cigarettes in PECA, the ministry said that “possession of e-cigarettes within the country in any quantity is not possible without contravening the provisions of PECA, 2019”.
21st July 2023: India: The Ministry of Health has asked state ministries to report violations of the nationwide ban on the production, sale, import, export, assembly, distribution, advertising and online trade of electronic cigarettes through its dedicated portal, press reports. The statement follows the recent notices reportedly sent by the Ministry of Health to 15 websites selling e-cigarettes, directing them to stop advertisement and sale of the products.
23rd May 2023: India: The Health Ministry has called for stricter enforcement of the statutory e-cigarette ban, which covers manufacturing, import, export, distribution and advertising of e-cigs, including parts and accessories, press reports.
18th April 2023: India: A former Parliament member has published an academic paper concluding that the national ban on e-cigarettes ordered by the government in 2019 has been unsuccessful. Rajeev Gowda said the country should lift the ban and introduce strict regulation instead to counter the health risks associated with unregulated black-market vapour products.
22nd February 2023: India: Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said yesterday that the central government is working on amending several laws regulating tobacco, namely the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, the Food Safety and Standards Act, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, to cover new products, press reports.

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